Even in a loss to Florida, Texas found one area where it looked much cleaner than it has all season: the penalty column.
The then-No. 7 Longhorns were flagged only once for 15 yards in the defeat, a rare showing that stood out as one of the better penalty performances of the Steve Sarkisian era.
It was also the first time in Sarkisian’s 74-game tenure at Texas that his team drew fewer than two penalties in a game. Texas had been penalized twice in four different games under Sarkisian, including against Ohio State this season, but never fewer.
That single flag came on an illegal block below the waist on defensive back Graceson Littleton. The penalty mattered in the moment, too: instead of facing 3rd and 1 at the Texas 40-yard line, Florida got an automatic first down at the Texas 25-yard line. The drive finished with a field goal.
The numbers now have Texas sitting tied for 38th nationally in penalties per game and 59th in penalty yards per game in the FBS. That’s a jump of 30 spots in the first category and 34 in the second.
After a stretch of games filled with costly mistakes, the Longhorns can at least point to Saturday as a cleaner effort in that department.
Florida, meanwhile, helped Texas by piling up its own mistakes. The Gators were penalized seven times for 55 yards, and several of those flags hit at damaging moments.
A false start wiped out a 4th and 1 attempt near midfield and sent Florida to punt instead. Jon Sumrall’s team also drew a pass-interference penalty on the first Texas drive that ended in a touchdown, then added a face-mask penalty on the second Longhorns drive, which ended with a field goal.
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